After dinner each evening the group has been meeting together to discuss the day and pray. Last night after dinner we had two Jews for Jesus who are serving in Israel join us and give testimony to their work. They shared that most Jews are secular or even do not believe anything and are open to the gospel. Only the orthodox Jews are very difficult to reach. They said we should be sharing with Jews even in the states because they can be reached for Jesus. The two were very passionate about reaching Jews for Jesus.
This morning began early with a 6:30am wake up call, breakfast and on the bus at 7:20. We had an 8am appointment to go through the Rabbinical Tunnels and traffic is very bad at that time of day. The tunnels go through at the Western Wall and on underground beside the Western Wall for 400 more meters than what you see from outside. It is a very interesting tour as you see the huge stones that were put in place by Herod the Great. Inside is a place where you are the nearest you can get to the Holy of Holies so many Jews were there praying. We came out on the Via Dolorosa and walked to Pilate’s Judgment Hall , the Chapel of Flaggalation. We went to the Ecco Homo “meaning Behold the Man” Chapel. We took time to pray and sing at many of these places and have a time of remembering what Jesus did for us. We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is the traditional site of Golgotha and the tomb of Jesus. A church was built over the site so it does not have the feel of the true location but it may be.
We walked through the Old City, first through the Arab section. We had a little shopping and a wonderful falafel or shwarma sandwiches. We went through the Christian section and the Jewish section of the Old City. We visited a place that is believed to be the area of the Upper Room where the last supper was held. We sang and prayed here and read scripture. This is always a special place because groups from other countries are there and you hear them singing and praying in other languages. This happens at many of the sites and it is just a joy to hear other people praising our LORD.
We went to Caiaphas house (St. Peter En Gallicantu or St. Peter of the Cock Crowing). This is the area where Peter denied Jesus. Inside is a pit where it is believed Jesus was put after His arrest. Our group went down into the pit. I stayed up and turned out the lights so they could experience the darkness as Jesus did. We had a time of singing and praying and reflecting on His sacrifice for us.
We have been walking all day to this point but now our bus is waiting for us to take us to the Garden Tomb. This area was discovered by a British General in the 1800s when he was stationed in Jerusalem. There is a hill that looks like a skull. There is a huge water cistern, a wine press and a tomb that has never been used. All this points to the fact that this garden was owned by a wealthy man. The Garden Tomb has the look and feel of the real place. It is a wonderful place to worship our LORD which we did in song, prayer, sermon by Dr. Mike Goforth and sharing in the LORDs Supper together. We also had a wonderful time here listening to other groups worshipping.
We have many times during the day where we read scripture, pray, someone shares a testimony – it is just an awesome experience and God really binds our hearts together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
I’m only hitting the highlights for you. If you have been here you can read between the lines, if not perhaps you will take the opportunity to come to this wonderful land and walk in the steps of Jesus. Some of the places where we were today He would have walked the very same steps.
We had a wonderful, beautiful, sunny day in Jerusalem! Thank you Jesus.
Shalom my friends!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Day 7 - Sunday
After a lovely breakfast at our hotel we boarded our bus at 8am to begin the day by traveling to Bethlehem. We had to take our passports since we would be going through checkpoints going and coming back. Bethlehem is Palestinian territory. It was an easy checkpoint and they never actually checked our passports but just got on the bus for a walk through.
We stopped at the Shepherd’s Field which is a location of a church and garden area where you can go in a cave like the shepherds would have stayed in and remember the time when the angels came to the shepherds with the good news of Jesus. We had a time scripture reading, singing and sharing and enjoying quiet time in the lovely area.
We then went to the Church of the Nativity that was built over the place where Jesus was born. Inside the church you go down into a cave and there is an area that is designated with a star to mark the place. Is this actually the place? We do not know but this place has been commemorated since at the the 4th century so it very well could be the exact place. We each took time to touch the stone and pray a short prayer as people were lined up in a very long line to come in. We had waited for quite a while for the Catholic church service to end so that this area would be open. This building is owned by three different churches who worship there at different times.
After a lovely lunch again of swarma or falafel sandwiches we traveled back to Jerusalem passing again through checkpoints.
The bus took us to the top of the Mount of Olives, one of our favorite places. It has a beautiful overlook of the city of Jerusalem. It was a beautiful, sunny day but quite windy and cold up on the Mt. We had a group picture made there. You could also have a camel ride for a few dollars.
We walked down the Mount where Jesus would have walked on Palm Sunday. At the bottom of the mountain is the Garden of Gethsemane where we spent some time looking at the very old olive trees and the garden there, mostly thinking of Jesus being there. The Church of All Nations is there and was built over the huge rock where it is believed that Jesus prayed “Not my will but thine”. We spent some time praying there and having our quiet time with the LORD. You cannot really gather and worship as a group in there because you are required to be quiet as many others are in there also. There is a place across from the garden, which is actually a garden as well and was part of the Garden of Gethsemane at that time. For a little extra donation you can take your group in there or some quiet time. This is the area where Peter, James and John would have been asleep when Jesus came back to ask them if they could not stay awake and pray. We sang several songs here and Scotty shared a message. We all took turns praying a short prayer aloud to show Jesus how much we all loved Him and were so thankful for what He did for us in that Garden. The battle was won there when he agreed to take our sins upon Himself and die in our place. We had a wonderful worship time together in this lovely place.
Back to the bus for the end of another day of walking in the steps of Jesus. I pray you all have a wonderful time of worship today as well.
We stopped at the Shepherd’s Field which is a location of a church and garden area where you can go in a cave like the shepherds would have stayed in and remember the time when the angels came to the shepherds with the good news of Jesus. We had a time scripture reading, singing and sharing and enjoying quiet time in the lovely area.
We then went to the Church of the Nativity that was built over the place where Jesus was born. Inside the church you go down into a cave and there is an area that is designated with a star to mark the place. Is this actually the place? We do not know but this place has been commemorated since at the the 4th century so it very well could be the exact place. We each took time to touch the stone and pray a short prayer as people were lined up in a very long line to come in. We had waited for quite a while for the Catholic church service to end so that this area would be open. This building is owned by three different churches who worship there at different times.
After a lovely lunch again of swarma or falafel sandwiches we traveled back to Jerusalem passing again through checkpoints.
The bus took us to the top of the Mount of Olives, one of our favorite places. It has a beautiful overlook of the city of Jerusalem. It was a beautiful, sunny day but quite windy and cold up on the Mt. We had a group picture made there. You could also have a camel ride for a few dollars.
We walked down the Mount where Jesus would have walked on Palm Sunday. At the bottom of the mountain is the Garden of Gethsemane where we spent some time looking at the very old olive trees and the garden there, mostly thinking of Jesus being there. The Church of All Nations is there and was built over the huge rock where it is believed that Jesus prayed “Not my will but thine”. We spent some time praying there and having our quiet time with the LORD. You cannot really gather and worship as a group in there because you are required to be quiet as many others are in there also. There is a place across from the garden, which is actually a garden as well and was part of the Garden of Gethsemane at that time. For a little extra donation you can take your group in there or some quiet time. This is the area where Peter, James and John would have been asleep when Jesus came back to ask them if they could not stay awake and pray. We sang several songs here and Scotty shared a message. We all took turns praying a short prayer aloud to show Jesus how much we all loved Him and were so thankful for what He did for us in that Garden. The battle was won there when he agreed to take our sins upon Himself and die in our place. We had a wonderful worship time together in this lovely place.
Back to the bus for the end of another day of walking in the steps of Jesus. I pray you all have a wonderful time of worship today as well.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Day 6 - Saturday
This is the Sabbath Day – it actually began at 6pm last night until 6pm tonight. Each hotel has a Shabbat elevator which opens on every floor so that the devout Jews do not have to push a button (that is work). We try to avoid that elevator as it takes longer to get up or down.
We left the beautiful Sea of Gallilee and Tiberias today. This day started as a rainy day but not enough to keep us from touring. After a wonderful breakfast at the Caesar Hotel in Tiberias with our bags packed we made our way to Jerusalem with a few stops along the way.
Our first stop was Bet’Shean which is the ruins of a Roman city which has been greatly excavated. It is a marvel to see and the best excavated site we have seen even with bath houses, toilets, theatre, etc. We climbed on top of Tel Bet’Shean and have a beautiful view of the ruins and surrounding area. A tel is a hill which covers ancient civilizations. They have begun also to excavate the ancient city of Bet’Shean which you can see as you make it to the top of the tel. The Philistines controlled Bet’Shean and brought the bodies of Saul and his three sons and hung their bodies on the city wall. The Israelites came at night and stole the bodies back.
We drove on South from Bet’Shean through Samaria. After went through a checkpoint entered West Bank territory (Area C) which is where both Jews and Palestinians travel. A few Jewish settlements are there though it is really illegal. They are sort of “squatting” I guess you could say.
Our guide, Nabil, read from John 4 about Jesus going through Samaria. It was not a normal route for him or any Jew to travel but He said “he must needs go through Samaria”. Why? Because a woman needed to be rescued and she didn’t even know it. What a beautiful story of the love of God for us! We were without God and didn’t even know we needed Him until He convicted our hearts of that need for Him. She believed and went and got all the townspeople to come to hear about this man “who told me everything I did”. She became a great witness for Christ. We drove all along the Jordan border with the Jordan River on the East and the hills of Samaria on the West.
We saw a Bedouin shepherd with his sheep. Bedouins are Palestinian Arab and usually Muslim. We traveled through beautiful fertile farmlands owned by the Palestinians with date palms, bananas, grapes, oranges, mangos, strawberries, eggplant, almost anything you could name. This is truly the Land of Milk and Honey.
We traveled through another checkpoint into West Bank territory (Area A) which is totally Palestianian controlled and no Jews would enter there. We entered the city of Jericho which was in this area. Jericho is the oldest city in the world (over 10,000 years old) and it is the lowest city in the world (1000 ft below sea level). From Jericho you can see the Mt of Temptation where Satan tempted Jesus to make the stones into bread and offered him the Kingdom. Jesus always answered him with “It is written”.
We had a wonderful lunch in Jericho and some shopping and then we visited the tel of Jericho where part of the old City of Jericho has been excavated. They won’t find the walls though because we know they tumbled down according to Joshua 2. We were reminded of that amazing story of how God gave that city to the Israelites and of course Rahab’s role in that. We also remembered that Rahab the Harlot is mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. Rahab, like the woman at the well, had to gather her entire family in her house to be saved from destruction. Perhaps some were embarrassed to go to her house, knowing how she made her living, but that was their only salvation. I think she was very convincing and according to scripture the people of Jericho had already heard about how God was with the Israelites and they were already living in fear.
The weather cleared up in Jericho and we had another beautiful day. We bought some wonderful fresh fruits, especially Jericho bananas which are small and so sweet. Some enjoyed a camel ride here as well, well not really a ride, just got on a camel to have a picture made, and I think that was enough for them.
We traveled on through another checkpoint to get back into West Bank Area C and made our way on toward Jerusalem. We traveled up to Jerusalem which is 2400 ft above sea level so when the Bible says they went up from Jericho to Jerusalem they really went up (and they were mostly walking). We made a turn on the old Jericho Road to see the Valley of the Shadow of Death. We cannot go through the Old Jericho Road like we used to but we can see part of the Valley. Nabil read Psalm 23 to us. “Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”. What a blessing that He is always with us! He is our Shepherd!
We had been traveling through what is now called the Judean Hills and saw many Bedouin camps along the way. We made our way on to Jerusalem. The driver put in a CD of “Jerusalem, Jerusalem” as we entered the city. We arrived at our hotel, The Leonardo (formerly the Novotel) near the Garden Tomb. We love this location near the Garden Tomb and the Old City. Our friend, Abraham, has a shop near here and we have already been down to say “Hello”. He was happy to see us as we were him.
It has been another wonderful day! We have been very blessed!
Shalom.
We left the beautiful Sea of Gallilee and Tiberias today. This day started as a rainy day but not enough to keep us from touring. After a wonderful breakfast at the Caesar Hotel in Tiberias with our bags packed we made our way to Jerusalem with a few stops along the way.
Our first stop was Bet’Shean which is the ruins of a Roman city which has been greatly excavated. It is a marvel to see and the best excavated site we have seen even with bath houses, toilets, theatre, etc. We climbed on top of Tel Bet’Shean and have a beautiful view of the ruins and surrounding area. A tel is a hill which covers ancient civilizations. They have begun also to excavate the ancient city of Bet’Shean which you can see as you make it to the top of the tel. The Philistines controlled Bet’Shean and brought the bodies of Saul and his three sons and hung their bodies on the city wall. The Israelites came at night and stole the bodies back.
We drove on South from Bet’Shean through Samaria. After went through a checkpoint entered West Bank territory (Area C) which is where both Jews and Palestinians travel. A few Jewish settlements are there though it is really illegal. They are sort of “squatting” I guess you could say.
Our guide, Nabil, read from John 4 about Jesus going through Samaria. It was not a normal route for him or any Jew to travel but He said “he must needs go through Samaria”. Why? Because a woman needed to be rescued and she didn’t even know it. What a beautiful story of the love of God for us! We were without God and didn’t even know we needed Him until He convicted our hearts of that need for Him. She believed and went and got all the townspeople to come to hear about this man “who told me everything I did”. She became a great witness for Christ. We drove all along the Jordan border with the Jordan River on the East and the hills of Samaria on the West.
We saw a Bedouin shepherd with his sheep. Bedouins are Palestinian Arab and usually Muslim. We traveled through beautiful fertile farmlands owned by the Palestinians with date palms, bananas, grapes, oranges, mangos, strawberries, eggplant, almost anything you could name. This is truly the Land of Milk and Honey.
We traveled through another checkpoint into West Bank territory (Area A) which is totally Palestianian controlled and no Jews would enter there. We entered the city of Jericho which was in this area. Jericho is the oldest city in the world (over 10,000 years old) and it is the lowest city in the world (1000 ft below sea level). From Jericho you can see the Mt of Temptation where Satan tempted Jesus to make the stones into bread and offered him the Kingdom. Jesus always answered him with “It is written”.
We had a wonderful lunch in Jericho and some shopping and then we visited the tel of Jericho where part of the old City of Jericho has been excavated. They won’t find the walls though because we know they tumbled down according to Joshua 2. We were reminded of that amazing story of how God gave that city to the Israelites and of course Rahab’s role in that. We also remembered that Rahab the Harlot is mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. Rahab, like the woman at the well, had to gather her entire family in her house to be saved from destruction. Perhaps some were embarrassed to go to her house, knowing how she made her living, but that was their only salvation. I think she was very convincing and according to scripture the people of Jericho had already heard about how God was with the Israelites and they were already living in fear.
The weather cleared up in Jericho and we had another beautiful day. We bought some wonderful fresh fruits, especially Jericho bananas which are small and so sweet. Some enjoyed a camel ride here as well, well not really a ride, just got on a camel to have a picture made, and I think that was enough for them.
We traveled on through another checkpoint to get back into West Bank Area C and made our way on toward Jerusalem. We traveled up to Jerusalem which is 2400 ft above sea level so when the Bible says they went up from Jericho to Jerusalem they really went up (and they were mostly walking). We made a turn on the old Jericho Road to see the Valley of the Shadow of Death. We cannot go through the Old Jericho Road like we used to but we can see part of the Valley. Nabil read Psalm 23 to us. “Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”. What a blessing that He is always with us! He is our Shepherd!
We had been traveling through what is now called the Judean Hills and saw many Bedouin camps along the way. We made our way on to Jerusalem. The driver put in a CD of “Jerusalem, Jerusalem” as we entered the city. We arrived at our hotel, The Leonardo (formerly the Novotel) near the Garden Tomb. We love this location near the Garden Tomb and the Old City. Our friend, Abraham, has a shop near here and we have already been down to say “Hello”. He was happy to see us as we were him.
It has been another wonderful day! We have been very blessed!
Shalom.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Day 5 - Friday
We began our day with a wonderful breakfast here at the Caesar Hotel in Tiberias on the beautiful Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias or the Genneseret). This is all the same Sea and it has not moved! We know that Jesus sailed on this Sea and that he spent much time in the towns around this Sea.
We left the hotel this morning at 8am and walked down to the dock to board a small wooden vessel that easily held our group of 27 plus the guide and 3 workers on the boat. A Christian company owned this boat so we they had familiar songs for us to sing along with. We sang “How Great Is Our God” and “Here I Am To Worship”. Dr. Mike Goforth brought a wonderful message from Matthew 14. After our wonderful time of worship we had some Israeli music and dancing for all who wanted to participate. It was the traditional dance where you make a circle, dance around, go to middle and etc. We enjoyed some good Christian fun! We spent about an hour on the Sea this morning, another gorgeous day!
We docked and went to a museum to see a boat that had been excavated from the time of Jesus. Then we headed to Nazareth where Jesus grew up. It is about a 45 minute drive from Tiberias.
On the way we stopped in the town of Cana where Jesus turned the water into wine. We visited a church to commemorate that miracle and had prayer for those who needed miracles in their lives and family. Jordan Grisham, a 17-yr old from our church who is facing brain cancer for the 2nd time was a focus of prayer, along with others. We know our God is in the miracle business and we ask for a miracle according to His Will. It was a special time for our group and we ended this special time by singing “Amazing Grace”.
In Nazareth we visited the Church of the Annunciation which is commemorative of the angel telling Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus. It was a beautiful church and the largest church in the Middle East.
We then had a lovely lunch of falafel sandwiches, swarma sandwiches or lambwiches (Scotty’s term).
We drove then to the highest point called the Mt of Precipice (?) where the mob took Jesus planning to throw him off for claiming to be the Messiah. They knew He was Jesus son so they accusing Him of blasphemy. They did not get to do their evil deed because the Bible says in Luke 4 that “He passed through them”. Here it is called “The Leaping Mountain” and the plaque says that he leaped and stayed in a cave below for several years. This is a very corrupted account of the Biblical account. It was very windy and cold up there but a beautiful view of Nazareth, Mt. Tabor and the Jezreel Valley.
We then made our way back to Tiberias for a time of time of rest and now it is almost time for dinner at 6pm.
Today at 6pm begins the Sabbath so many Jews are here for the Sabbath so they can enjoy it without having to work (cook).
It has been a gorgeous day in Israel to walk in the footsteps of our wonderful LORD and SAVIOR!
Time to eat so SHALOM MY FRIENDS!
We left the hotel this morning at 8am and walked down to the dock to board a small wooden vessel that easily held our group of 27 plus the guide and 3 workers on the boat. A Christian company owned this boat so we they had familiar songs for us to sing along with. We sang “How Great Is Our God” and “Here I Am To Worship”. Dr. Mike Goforth brought a wonderful message from Matthew 14. After our wonderful time of worship we had some Israeli music and dancing for all who wanted to participate. It was the traditional dance where you make a circle, dance around, go to middle and etc. We enjoyed some good Christian fun! We spent about an hour on the Sea this morning, another gorgeous day!
We docked and went to a museum to see a boat that had been excavated from the time of Jesus. Then we headed to Nazareth where Jesus grew up. It is about a 45 minute drive from Tiberias.
On the way we stopped in the town of Cana where Jesus turned the water into wine. We visited a church to commemorate that miracle and had prayer for those who needed miracles in their lives and family. Jordan Grisham, a 17-yr old from our church who is facing brain cancer for the 2nd time was a focus of prayer, along with others. We know our God is in the miracle business and we ask for a miracle according to His Will. It was a special time for our group and we ended this special time by singing “Amazing Grace”.
In Nazareth we visited the Church of the Annunciation which is commemorative of the angel telling Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus. It was a beautiful church and the largest church in the Middle East.
We then had a lovely lunch of falafel sandwiches, swarma sandwiches or lambwiches (Scotty’s term).
We drove then to the highest point called the Mt of Precipice (?) where the mob took Jesus planning to throw him off for claiming to be the Messiah. They knew He was Jesus son so they accusing Him of blasphemy. They did not get to do their evil deed because the Bible says in Luke 4 that “He passed through them”. Here it is called “The Leaping Mountain” and the plaque says that he leaped and stayed in a cave below for several years. This is a very corrupted account of the Biblical account. It was very windy and cold up there but a beautiful view of Nazareth, Mt. Tabor and the Jezreel Valley.
We then made our way back to Tiberias for a time of time of rest and now it is almost time for dinner at 6pm.
Today at 6pm begins the Sabbath so many Jews are here for the Sabbath so they can enjoy it without having to work (cook).
It has been a gorgeous day in Israel to walk in the footsteps of our wonderful LORD and SAVIOR!
Time to eat so SHALOM MY FRIENDS!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Day 4 - Thursday
We started a wonderful day on the beautiful Sea of Galilee. We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel and were on the bus and ready for our day at 8am. Scotty had a prayer on the bus and we went to the area where Jesus preached the sermon on the mount. You can see that the area is a natural theatre where Jesus could have easily spoken to thousands of people. We had some special alone time with the LORD here.
Next we went to one of our favorite places, Caesarea Phillippi (also called Banias). This is at the foot of Mt. Herman and where the Jordan River begins. This is the area where Jesus said "On this rock I will build my church". Scotty always loves to share a message here and also share his testimony. Afterward we enjoyed seeing the lovely area there. There is an old Roman bridge and a lovely waterfall and stream.
Next we went to the place where Jesus fed the 5000. There is a church there to commmemmorate this (as there is most everywhere). The church has a lovely mosaic floor with the loaves and fishes.
We then went to another of our favorite places, Capernaum. This is where Jesus stayed often at Peter's house. The area has been excavated and you can see walls of Peter's house. This is also where they let down the man through the roof for Jesus to heal. There are ruins of a synogue there that would have been there in Jesus' day. These are all beautiful areas on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Our guide, Nabil, who is a Christian and has just started a church in Jerusalem, shared his personal testimony with us. We sang together and enjoyed this wonderful time with our LORD in one of the places that he spent so much time.
We had a late fallafel or chicken sandwich lunch and then went to the baptismal site. Many of our group chose to be baptized in the Jordan River even though the water was very cold. It was a meaningful experience for them as well as for us who watched.
Back to the hotel to rest a while before dinner. Our dinner was 7:30 tonight so we had a nice dinenr and then had a time of sharing and fellowship with our group following dinner.
God is so good. There are many, many buses of tourists shere with groups from all over the world. We are blessed when we hear these groups singing and praising our LORD in different languages.
Our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee is tomorrow - we had thought it was going to be today but it will be first thing tomorrow. Pastor Mike Goforth will be sharing the message and we will be having a time of sharing and singing on the boat. We also go to Nazareth tommorrow and will meet Afif and take him the items that were donated for his ministry.
Shalom from Tiberias, Israel
Next we went to one of our favorite places, Caesarea Phillippi (also called Banias). This is at the foot of Mt. Herman and where the Jordan River begins. This is the area where Jesus said "On this rock I will build my church". Scotty always loves to share a message here and also share his testimony. Afterward we enjoyed seeing the lovely area there. There is an old Roman bridge and a lovely waterfall and stream.
Next we went to the place where Jesus fed the 5000. There is a church there to commmemmorate this (as there is most everywhere). The church has a lovely mosaic floor with the loaves and fishes.
We then went to another of our favorite places, Capernaum. This is where Jesus stayed often at Peter's house. The area has been excavated and you can see walls of Peter's house. This is also where they let down the man through the roof for Jesus to heal. There are ruins of a synogue there that would have been there in Jesus' day. These are all beautiful areas on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Our guide, Nabil, who is a Christian and has just started a church in Jerusalem, shared his personal testimony with us. We sang together and enjoyed this wonderful time with our LORD in one of the places that he spent so much time.
We had a late fallafel or chicken sandwich lunch and then went to the baptismal site. Many of our group chose to be baptized in the Jordan River even though the water was very cold. It was a meaningful experience for them as well as for us who watched.
Back to the hotel to rest a while before dinner. Our dinner was 7:30 tonight so we had a nice dinenr and then had a time of sharing and fellowship with our group following dinner.
God is so good. There are many, many buses of tourists shere with groups from all over the world. We are blessed when we hear these groups singing and praising our LORD in different languages.
Our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee is tomorrow - we had thought it was going to be today but it will be first thing tomorrow. Pastor Mike Goforth will be sharing the message and we will be having a time of sharing and singing on the boat. We also go to Nazareth tommorrow and will meet Afif and take him the items that were donated for his ministry.
Shalom from Tiberias, Israel
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday - Wednesday
The Holy Land 2011 (12 day trip led by Scotty & Kathy Hogan)
Day 1
We depart from Huntsville around 5pm with 24 of our group of 27. We make the short uneventful trip to Atlanta. The rest of our group joined us there, one from North Carolina and two from Florida – our group is now complete. Decatur Baptist has a group with us as well as our pastor friend from Boaz, Mike Goforth. It is just Scotty & me from Westmeade and we enlisted four from Ninth Street Methodist. It is a great group and we are all enjoying getting to know one another. It is always a joy as God puts people in our lives and to discover what that purpose is.
We had dinner and got to know one another as we waited for our 11pm flight to Tel Aviv. We had a 3 hour and 45 minute layover in Atlanta. Before boarding we had to go through another security before getting on the flight and had to trash water we had just purchased (or drink it quickly which I chose to do).
Day 1-2 Flight to Tel Aviv
We settled into our seats. There are only 3 seats on the flight that are on the back and do not recline. Scotty and I had the blessing of having 2 of those and another of our group, Dale Johnson (a pharmacist from Boaz) had the 3rd. We tried to keep a good attitude but our heads sure bobbled when we would nap. The flight was 11 hours straight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv on Delta. This flight costs more but you avoid the hassle of stopping at an airport in Europe and having to wait and go through security again there. These direct flights are long but well worth it. You can get up and walk around and exercise your legs which helped a lot. They fed us 2 meals and always had snacks for us to enjoy. We made the flight fine and arrived in Tel Aviv about 5pm (time is 8 hours ahead of Alabama time).
Our guide, Nabil, and bus driver were waiting for us when we arrived and after gathering our luggage we drove to Netanya which is about an hour north of Tel Aviv to The Seasons Hotel on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. We had a wonderful dinner and many of us crashed because we were so tired. Some may have taken a stroll by the Sea. Since I was one who crashed I am now awake at 1am here writing this blog as I hear the waves of the beautiful Sea crashing against the seashore just outside our room.
Last summer when Scotty and I volunteered at the Garden Tomb in Jeruslem we met Louiza who worked in the gift shop there. She told us that her husband, Nabil, was a guide so we requested him to be our guide for this trip. He is young and we are confident it will be a good fit. He is a Christian who has just help start a new church in Jerusalem. We brought a projector donated by one of our members to help with their new church. He was very grateful.
Tomorrow we will see Miriam and deliver the things we brought for her family and for the camps at The Baptist Village this summer. We brought soccer balls, basketball, volleyball, dodge balls, craft kits, jump ropes to name a few. 4 suitcases full of supplies to use to help reach people for Jesus! Thank you for your generosity in giving. I will try to sleep a little more. Shalom.
Wednesday (Day 3)
I attempted to send the above blog this morning but did not work so just now getting the opportunity so I will go ahead and add news from today.
We got up and packed out suitcases, had a wonderful breakfast and were on the bus by 8:30am ready for our journey today to Haifa and on to Tiberias. We stopped at Caesarea by the Seacoast which are ruins of a Herod the Great palace, theatre, hippodrome, etc. This is always an interesting place to visit. It was also in this area where Cornelius came to know the LORD. After a good time there we went to to see the aqueduct where water was brought from Mt. Hermon to this area which had no fresh water. This is a wonderful place for photos and just to enjoy the beautiful Med Sea.
On then to Haifa where we met Miriam and loved on little Moriah for Bonita, Roger and Mrs. Phyllis. I gave her lots of hugs and kisses for you! We delivered 4 large suitcases of items that had been donated for them personally but mostly for their ministry. It was good to see her beautiful smiling face. She shared with our group about the mission work in this area.
We visited two areas on Mt. Carmel, Stella Maris church and the area where it is believed that Elijah and the prophets of Baal tried to get God to answer by fire. And we all know the ONE and ONLY GOD did answer by fire that day. There is a great statue of Elijah there and from this area you can see much of Israel, especially the Jezreel Valley, the Valley of Armageddon.
We had a wonderful lunch of fallafel or chicken sandwiches at a nice Druze cafe and then on to visit the ruins at Megiddo. After a nice visit there (google that if you want to know more) we were on our way to Tiberias. We arrived around 4:30pm to the Caesar hotel where we will be staying 3 mights. It is a lovely place on the Sea of Galilee. We can look out our window and see the Sea.
We rested a while, shopped for some Naots (shoes made in Isreal) and then had dinner with our group.
Thankful to have internet service here so hopefully will have time to blog each day now.
We could not have asked for better weather, it has been beautiful in the Land of our LORD. Now we are in the area where he spent most of his life. We will be walking in his very steps for the next week or so.
Tomorrow we begin our day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee! What a way to start a day!
Blessings,
kathy
Day 1
We depart from Huntsville around 5pm with 24 of our group of 27. We make the short uneventful trip to Atlanta. The rest of our group joined us there, one from North Carolina and two from Florida – our group is now complete. Decatur Baptist has a group with us as well as our pastor friend from Boaz, Mike Goforth. It is just Scotty & me from Westmeade and we enlisted four from Ninth Street Methodist. It is a great group and we are all enjoying getting to know one another. It is always a joy as God puts people in our lives and to discover what that purpose is.
We had dinner and got to know one another as we waited for our 11pm flight to Tel Aviv. We had a 3 hour and 45 minute layover in Atlanta. Before boarding we had to go through another security before getting on the flight and had to trash water we had just purchased (or drink it quickly which I chose to do).
Day 1-2 Flight to Tel Aviv
We settled into our seats. There are only 3 seats on the flight that are on the back and do not recline. Scotty and I had the blessing of having 2 of those and another of our group, Dale Johnson (a pharmacist from Boaz) had the 3rd. We tried to keep a good attitude but our heads sure bobbled when we would nap. The flight was 11 hours straight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv on Delta. This flight costs more but you avoid the hassle of stopping at an airport in Europe and having to wait and go through security again there. These direct flights are long but well worth it. You can get up and walk around and exercise your legs which helped a lot. They fed us 2 meals and always had snacks for us to enjoy. We made the flight fine and arrived in Tel Aviv about 5pm (time is 8 hours ahead of Alabama time).
Our guide, Nabil, and bus driver were waiting for us when we arrived and after gathering our luggage we drove to Netanya which is about an hour north of Tel Aviv to The Seasons Hotel on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. We had a wonderful dinner and many of us crashed because we were so tired. Some may have taken a stroll by the Sea. Since I was one who crashed I am now awake at 1am here writing this blog as I hear the waves of the beautiful Sea crashing against the seashore just outside our room.
Last summer when Scotty and I volunteered at the Garden Tomb in Jeruslem we met Louiza who worked in the gift shop there. She told us that her husband, Nabil, was a guide so we requested him to be our guide for this trip. He is young and we are confident it will be a good fit. He is a Christian who has just help start a new church in Jerusalem. We brought a projector donated by one of our members to help with their new church. He was very grateful.
Tomorrow we will see Miriam and deliver the things we brought for her family and for the camps at The Baptist Village this summer. We brought soccer balls, basketball, volleyball, dodge balls, craft kits, jump ropes to name a few. 4 suitcases full of supplies to use to help reach people for Jesus! Thank you for your generosity in giving. I will try to sleep a little more. Shalom.
Wednesday (Day 3)
I attempted to send the above blog this morning but did not work so just now getting the opportunity so I will go ahead and add news from today.
We got up and packed out suitcases, had a wonderful breakfast and were on the bus by 8:30am ready for our journey today to Haifa and on to Tiberias. We stopped at Caesarea by the Seacoast which are ruins of a Herod the Great palace, theatre, hippodrome, etc. This is always an interesting place to visit. It was also in this area where Cornelius came to know the LORD. After a good time there we went to to see the aqueduct where water was brought from Mt. Hermon to this area which had no fresh water. This is a wonderful place for photos and just to enjoy the beautiful Med Sea.
On then to Haifa where we met Miriam and loved on little Moriah for Bonita, Roger and Mrs. Phyllis. I gave her lots of hugs and kisses for you! We delivered 4 large suitcases of items that had been donated for them personally but mostly for their ministry. It was good to see her beautiful smiling face. She shared with our group about the mission work in this area.
We visited two areas on Mt. Carmel, Stella Maris church and the area where it is believed that Elijah and the prophets of Baal tried to get God to answer by fire. And we all know the ONE and ONLY GOD did answer by fire that day. There is a great statue of Elijah there and from this area you can see much of Israel, especially the Jezreel Valley, the Valley of Armageddon.
We had a wonderful lunch of fallafel or chicken sandwiches at a nice Druze cafe and then on to visit the ruins at Megiddo. After a nice visit there (google that if you want to know more) we were on our way to Tiberias. We arrived around 4:30pm to the Caesar hotel where we will be staying 3 mights. It is a lovely place on the Sea of Galilee. We can look out our window and see the Sea.
We rested a while, shopped for some Naots (shoes made in Isreal) and then had dinner with our group.
Thankful to have internet service here so hopefully will have time to blog each day now.
We could not have asked for better weather, it has been beautiful in the Land of our LORD. Now we are in the area where he spent most of his life. We will be walking in his very steps for the next week or so.
Tomorrow we begin our day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee! What a way to start a day!
Blessings,
kathy
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